


Happy Birthday, Jack Harkness

by totally4ryo



Series: Time After Time [22]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 04:36:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1115582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totally4ryo/pseuds/totally4ryo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While planning their son's 2nd birthday, Jack and Ianto's 5 year old Stephanie wants to know why they never celebrate Jack's birthday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Birthday, Jack Harkness

**Author's Note:**

> Because I've been getting a lot of requests for **Time After Time** fluff, and this plotbunny fit the challenges prompts. As of now, completely Unbeta'd, but will update once beta is done. I just finished writing and the deadline is today. So, please forgive all my errors.

Title: Happy Birthday, Jack Harkness  
Series: Time After Time  
Word Count: 3418  
Rating: G  
Characters/Pairing: Jack/Ianto; OCs: Stephanie Harkness-Jones, Ifan Harkness-Jones, Mr. Weebles, the Doctor (mentioned); OC's mentioned: Seleny Williams, Olivia Burns, Owen Williams-Burns, Allan Sanders, Denise Sanders, John Sanders, Trenton Sayer  
Spoilers: None specific, but anything up to TW S2 and DW S4 could be mentioned.  
Disclaimer: I most certainly don't own Jack, Ianto or anything Torchwood, or Doctor Who  
Warning: AU, implied past MPREG, slash, extreme fluff, some angst, extremely cute kids (you have been warned)  
Prompt: [](http://jantoseasonal.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://jantoseasonal.livejournal.com/)**jantoseasonal** Challenge One: "Home" birthday, warmth  
Summary: While planning their son's 2nd birthday, Jack and Ianto's 5 year old Stephanie wants to know why they never celebrate Jack's birthday.  
Notes: Because I've been getting a lot of requests for **Time After Time** fluff, and this plotbunny fit the challenges prompts. As of now, completely Unbeta'd, but will update once beta is done. I just finished writing and the deadline is today. So, please forgive all my errors.

Time After Time series Master List can be found [HERE.](http://totally4ryo.livejournal.com/86120.html)

 

  
Many thanks to the talented and awesome [](http://cjharknessgirl.livejournal.com/profile)[**cjharknessgirl**](http://cjharknessgirl.livejournal.com/)!!!

Jack and Ianto were in Jack’s office, going over some paperwork when Stephanie ran into the office, looking for her daddies. A frazzled looking Weevil entered behind her.

“Stephanie,” Jack exclaimed, noticing his daughter as she scrambled up alongside the desk. “What are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re running again.”

The Weevil, who instead of wearing the usual boiler suit that had been popular among the Weevil population in the sewers for decades wore a pair of black trousers and waist coat under a white cotton shirt, looked at Jack and Ianto and let out a gruffy sound which they identified as a sigh.

Ianto turned from where he sat on the edge of Jack’s desk. “Don’t lie, Stef,” he warned just as the five year old was about to nod her head. He started to smirk when Mr. Weebles folded his arms, his eyes on Stephanie.

“I missed you, Taddy,” Stephanie stated, running up to hug Ianto’s legs. “You too, Daddy.”

Jack smiled at their daughter. “You don’t have to run, or make Mr. Weebles run after you if you want to see us, sweet pea.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Stephanie apologized, looking at both her fathers with wide silver-blue eyes.

Ianto lifted the child and settled her on his lap, and then looked over to the Weevil. “Where’s Ifan?” he asked.

Jack looked up as the Weevil signed, while it made throaty sounds. He looked over to Ianto, waiting for his partner to interpret.

“He’s still sleeping in the nursery,” Ianto informed Jack. “Thank you, Mr. Weebles. Why don’t you go and relax a while before Ifan wakes up.”

The Weevil bowed slightly and signed again, making another growl.

“You’re very welcome,” Ianto replied with a smile. He watched as the Weevil backed out of the office and walked out of sight. Looking back at Jack, as he held Stephanie in place, he chuckled. “I still can’t believe we have a domesticated Weevil.”

Jack laughed. “Is it any wonder any daughter of our was able to start domesticating a Weevil, when you were able to domesticate me?” he said with a wink.

“There is that,” Ianto laughed. “So, young lady, is there any reason why you’re here?”

Stephanie nodded. “Yep. You and Daddy have been so busy lately, I don’t get to see you.” She pouted. “You weren’t home last night. And before that.”

Ianto hugged her tighter. “Aw sweetheart. You know sometimes our job gets hectic. It’s not that we don’t want to spend time with you or come home,” he explained.

“I know. You need to save the world, but I miss you.” She cuddled up to Ianto and rested her head against his chest.

Jack stood up so he could hug his daughter too. He planted a kiss on her brown silky hair. “We’re sorry, sweet pea. We’ll make it up to you, we promise. We’re almost done with the latest mission. In fact, we have some time now.”

“You were taking a nap with your brother, and we decided to let you sleep, Stef,” Ianto explained to her. “We were also taking advantage of your little brother sleeping.” He grinned at his daughter.

“What were you doing?” Stephanie asked.

“We were starting to plan Ifan’s birthday party, because this year we know he’ll enjoy it.”

Stephanie scrunched her face. “He had fun last year.” She giggled. “Taddy had a fit when his cake ended up on the couch.” She laughed.

“It wasn’t the whole cake,” Jack pointed out. “Just some of what ended up in a food fight.” He was aware of Ianto staring at him, knowing exactly who had started the cake fight. “Well, like Stef said, Ifan had fun. And we’ll be laughing at the video, especially when we show it when he brings his first girlfriend home.”

“Jack, you would not!” Ianto exclaimed, but laughed. “I know how embarrassing that is. That’s one of the disadvantages of my unique situation. There are some things that one should go through only once while growing up.”

Jack started to laugh more. “You endured it twice. So, back to planning the party?” he asked.

“Can I help?”

“We were going to ask you when you woke up,” Ianto stated.

She hugged Ianto. “I’m up now, Taddy.”

“Yes, you are. So let’s see what we can do for your brother.” Ianto smiled as she slid from his lap, providing the child with a little help to assure she didn’t fall.

“Are you going to have baby Owen at the party?” Stephanie asked as she followed Jack around the desk.

Jack sat down in his chair and leaned back. “Of course baby Owen will be at the party. And also John.”

John Sanders was the three and a half year old son of Allan Sanders, who had been Jack’s second until Ianto came back to his life and Torchwood. The man had stepped back in deference of Ianto’s experience, despite his age in this lifetime to allow Ianto to become Jack’s second. In recent years, Allan once again took the spot of second because it was obvious Jack and Ianto headed Torchwood together. The young child would sometimes be at the Hub and play with Ifan and Stephanie. Other times Allan’s wife, Denise, would take the Harkness-Jones children home with her when the team was busy with a new mission and would spend long hours into the overnight working.

“Ifan will like that. He likes John,” Stephanie said in a serious way that only a five year old can have. Jack looked up at Ianto and winked.

“If you like, you can invite some of your friends to the party,” Ianto said to their daughter. “Last year we had mostly adults because we knew Ifan would not remember much, even if he did have fun.”

“Can I give out the invitations then, Taddy? Just like Mary did for her party?” Stephanie asked as she crawled onto Jack’s lap.

“It would be only proper,” Ianto said with a smile. “So shall we work out what we want to eat at the party?”

Stephanie nodded her head vigorously, making Jack laugh. Ianto knew he would be trimming the food list down significantly during the final planning because he knew his husband and daughter all too well.

 

OoOoOoO

“Daddy?” Stephanie looked up at her father after a while of planning, which included plenty of laughs and the two men simply enjoying time with their five year old daughter.

“What, sweet pea?” Jack asked, leaning back and stretching.

“How come everyone has a birthday but you, Daddy?”

Jack glanced over to his partner, who shrugged.

“Because I don’t have one, sweet pea,” Jack said softly.

Stephanie looked scandalized as she stared first at Jack and then to Ianto. “But everybody has a birthday, Daddy!” She scrunched up her young face. “Don’t they?” She looked over to Ianto for an answer, because her Tad always knew everything.

Ianto sighed. “Stephanie, Daddy has a birthday, but it’s just hard to translate on this world.”

“But you have a birthday, Taddy,” Stephanie pointed out.

“I do, but I was born here in Wales, sweet pea,” Ianto said. He smiled as he considered that he had been born twice in Wales, and on the same date. It did make his life less complicated. “Remember one of our secrets that Daddy was born on another planet far from here.”

“And in the future,” Stephanie finished for Ianto. She looked back to Jack and took his large hand in her little one. “But what was your birthday where you grew up, Daddy?”

Jack shrugged. “It was so long ago, Stef, that I don’t think I remember anymore,” he said softly.

“Doesn’t it make you sad, Daddy?” Stephanie asked. “Everyone should have a birthday. Even you.” She pouted as she continued to hold her daddy’s hand.

“I’m fine, sweet pea. As long as we have birthdays for you, your Tad and Ifan, I’m very happy. My birthday isn’t important.”

“It is to me, Daddy.” Stephanie looked up at Jack with big blue eyes that glistened.

With his free hand, Jack softly touched her face. “Don’t cry, sweetheart.” He picked her up to settle the child on his lap. “I’m not sad, Stephanie, so you shouldn’t be.”

“You need to have birthday parties, too, Daddy,” Stephanie pouted.

Jack looked over to Ianto, clearly in his look asking Ianto for help.

“Why don’t we ask Daddy to pick a day that will be his special day. We can have parties and do nice things for him, like you and Daddy do for my birthday.”

“It won’t be the same,” Stephanie said. She buried her face in Jack’s chest, hugging him. “I want Daddy to have a birthday.”

Jack hugged his daughter, kissing her head. “Oh sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”

“Daddy is different than everyone,” Ianto tried to explain as came over to stop next to Jack and Stephanie. “Just like we all are in our own ways in this family. You know, secrets.”

Stephanie nodded her head, face still buried in Jack’s chest. Ianto ran his fingers through the girl’s soft silken strands, noting that she needed her hair brushed again soon. She lifted her face enough to say, “Daddy needs a birthday,” before hiding her face in Jack’s chest again.

Ianto looked thoughtful for a moment. “Daddy does have a birthday,” he tried to explain, “but because his world has a year different than Earth, and they used a different calendar, it is hard to translate it here.”

Stephanie lifted her head and leaned back to look up at Ianto. “But you know everything, Taddy. You can find Daddy’s birthday, can’t you?”

Jack bit his bottom lip in an attempt not to start laughing. He had a feeling that both Ianto and Stephanie would find the outburst inappropriate at that moment.

Ianto ruffled Stephanie’s hair again before he walked over to the second desk in that had been set up in the office since Ianto had taken over running Torchwood with Jack. He turned on his computer and started to type.

Stephanie hugged Jack and crawled up to her knees while still in his lap. Jack balanced her and grinned as she moved in to give him a sloppy kiss on his nose. “Don’t worry, Daddy. Taddy will figure out your birthday.”

Jack hugged Stephanie close to him and laughed. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he mumbled. He turned his chair to face Ianto.

Stephanie scrambled from Jack’s lap to stand beside her other daddy. She watched as Ianto worked, having no idea what all the data and images that appeared on the monitor was. They would disappear and be replaced by new data before she could make out if there were numbers or letters or other symbols on the screen.

Finally Ianto leaned back in his chair and winked at Stephanie with a wink. “Okay Jack. Do you really want to do this?”

“Actually it’s Stephanie that really wants to do this,” Jack replied as he smiled tenderly at their daughter. “And that’s enough for me to say yes.”

Stephanie jumped up and down in place, clapping her hands.

“I’m going to ask you some questions. I think this could actually be simple. You really can’t remember an exact date?” he asked.

Jack shrugged. “Not that is would make very much sense to you, but it’s well…to make it easy it was the 13th month of the year, toward the end, I guess.”

Stephanie turned to Jack, folding her arms and gave him a serious look. “Daddy, the year has only 12 months. That’s too many months.”

Jack chuckled. “Sweet pea, where I’m from there were 16 months to a year. There were roughly 6 weeks to a month. More or less.” He glanced over to Ianto.

“I understand. Stephanie, did you forget our trip the Doctor took us to Delaryos in the summer?” Ianto asked.

Stephanie shook her head. “No, Taddy. I could never forget it. I want to go again.”

“I would like that, too, sweet pea,” Ianto said with a smile. “Remember how the days were different than here?”

After a few moments of thought, her eyes got wide. “Oh! I understand.” She looked back at Jack. “I believe you, Daddy.”

“Thank you for that,” Jack said, starting to laugh.

“Daddy?”

“Yes sweet pea?”

“Maybe someday you can take us to where you were born?” Stephanie asked.

“It’s in the future, sweetheart,” Jack replied.

“Uncle Doctor has the TARDIS,” Stephanie said.

Jack laughed more. “So he does. Maybe one day, Stef. I’d like to show you, Taddy and Ifan one day.” He looked over at Ianto. “So do you have a date?”

“It has been a while since we actually went out on a date, but I understand, juggling two children with Torchwood,” Ianto replied with a perfect straight face.

Jack snorted and shook his head. “Birth date,” he said. “But if that’s a hint, I’ll see what I can do about that sometime soon.”

“Still working on it, and you don’t have to. But don’t let that stop you.” They shared a smile that was reserved only for the other, smile that no one else was the recipient of. “Well then, last part of the year?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Year set in quarters?”

“It was, I think it was the total full moon after the last equinox of the year. I guess you would say the autumnal equinox here, but we didn’t have autumn on Boeshane. Not in the way we have here. But it was harvest time, and start storing up for the darker months, and plenty of celebrations to fill up the longer nights.” He smiled fondly at the memories that went through his mind. He knew they were incomplete, but what he did remember, he was thankful. They were of happier times before the invasion that destroyed Jack’s happy childhood. “I’m pretty sure the standard Galactic calendar year was 5069.”

“Now that was easier than I thought,” Ianto mused.

Stephanie clapped, and then smiling up at him, she rested her hands on the edge of his desk and stared at the screen intently. Jack and Ianto chuckled warmly as they looked at their daughter.

They were distracted when they heard someone at the door and turned to find their resident Weevil holding an awake Ifan. The Weevil canted his head when he had their attention and set Ifan on his feet.

The little almost 2 year old boy ran first to Jack, who was the closest. “Did you have a good nap, bug?” Jack asked.

Ifan nodded his head. “Hungry now,” he said in his baby voice.

“Are you now?” Jack lifted the toddler and hugged him.

The Weevil was signing to Ianto, making his usual grunting sounds. Ianto and Jack had realized the alien was speaking in his own way while signing so Ianto could understand him. Ianto was certain that one day they would be able to start understanding the Weevil. He would spend hours watching tapes of the Weevil as he signed, and had been associating sounds as he communicated with their part-time nanny/part-time domestic who lived in the Hub.

When the Weevil left the office, having been dismissed for the day by Ianto, he looked over at Jack. “Why don’t I see if how Seleny and Allan are doing with their check?. If they’re done, we might as well call it a night and get these kids home.”

“I’m sure the others would appreciate spending some quality time with their families,” Jack agreed. To Ifan, he added, “We’ll be going home soon and have some real food. Okay?”

Ifan nodded. “Can I have a biscuit now?”

“I think I can find a snack to hold us over for now. Stef, are you with us?”

Stephanie nodded. “But Taddy,” she said, running after Ianto who had stood up and went over to Jack to hug Ifan. “What about Daddy’s birthday?”

“How about I tell everyone over dinner? Because Daddy’s birthday passed already, so I think we’ll have a little belated party for him,” Ianto stated with a smile, and winked at Jack.

Jack stared at Ianto. “Do you really?” he asked.

“Didn’t I say it was easier than I thought. Especially since you gave your birth year in a standard Galactic year, which was used on Earth by that time, if I recall facts correctly.” Ianto smiled at Jack. “Go get the children a snack, while I see to shutting down for tonight. Trenton is on the rota for watch tonight.”

“If it’s something that needs our attention, we’ll know,” Jack stated.

“’Cause that big noise from Daddy’s strap will happen,” Stephanie said.

“Yeah, it will,” Jack agreed as he stood up. He still held Ifan.

“I no want noise tonight,” Ifan pouted.

“We’ll do our best, tiny mite.” Jack tickled the toddler, making him giggle as he followed Ianto and Stephanie out of the office.

OoOoOoO

Jack glanced around the table at the near empty plates. It was not a home cooked meal, but he thought Ianto went a little overboard with picking up ready made food from a market that was on the way to their house. Stephanie was giggling, wearing a foil and feathered crown. Ifan was making more of a mess of his food than eating it, also in a party hat. In fact, all of them were in hats. Stephanie insisted that Ianto had to buy them while they made the food stop. Jack was sent back to the car and wait. He realized that there was also a small cake that Stephanie insisted Jack could not see.

Ianto started to clear the table and get ready for dessert, putting on coffee for him and Jack, and preparing hot cocoa for the children.

“So?” Jack asked. “We had a celebration dinner. To tell the truth, I hardly have room for cake, but I’ll make sure I have a little piece.”

“You have to, Daddy, because it’s your birthday cake. Even if it’s late,” Stephanie said, hugging Jack’s arm.

“Come along, rugrats,” Ianto called. “Want to help me with Daddy’s birthday cake?”

“YAY!” both children exclaimed as they rushed into the kitchen with Ianto.

After a few minutes of laughing coming from the kitchen, Stephanie appeared in the doorway. “Close your eyes, Daddy.”

“But I won’t see the cake if I do that,” Jack teased.

“You could open them after Taddy puts the cake on the table.”

“Okay.” Jack closed his eyes.

“Cover them too, Daddy,” Ifan added, giggling.

“Yeah, ‘cause Taddy says Daddy cheats.”

Jack covered his eyes as he started to laugh. He heard Ianto’s laughter from near the doorway in the kitchen. Even with his eyes closed, he sense the lighting in the dining room was dimmed.

Suddenly he heard Ianto’s deep timber start to sing, “Happy birthday to you….”

Stephanie and Ifan’s voices joined in as he felt the heat from candles be set close to him. “Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Daddy, happy birthday to you!”

“YAY!” the children exclaimed.

“Open your eyes, Daddy!” Stephanie exclaimed.

“Pretty cake!” Ifan added.

Jack opened his eyes to find a blue frosted square cake in front of him, with lit candles. He glanced down at the white piping writing that looked like Ianto did it.

_Happy Birthday_  
Daddy  
9/27/5069 

Jack glanced up from the cake with tears in his eyes. “It’s only five days,” he noted.

“Which is why I thought it a good idea to have a belated party. We’re late, but we’re not that late. And I couldn’t stand the thought of Stephanie waiting almost a full year to finally celebrate your birthday,” he said.

“But next year we’re going to have a big party for Daddy?” Stephanie asked. “Please?”

“If you insist, sweet pea,” Jack stated. “Taddy will help you with anything you want to do.”

Ianto raised his eyebrows. “Jack!” he warned, and then groaned, because he could only imagine what their precocious daughter would want to do. He already knew some of her ideas helping Jack plan the Welshman’s past parties.

Stephanie and Ifan stood on each side of Jack. The immortal put his arms around his children, laughing. “Anybody want to help me put these out before we have a fire?”

“ME!” Both replied.

Even Ianto leaned over Jack and helped as the family of four blew out the candles of the first birthday cake Jack had in over a century.


End file.
